Your Personal Brand & Telling Your Story

Your Brand

Your personal brand is the most important asset you own. When your playing days eventually end, your personal brand is all you have left. So, why not start developing yours now.

The good news? Everyone already has a personal brand. To quickly figure out yours, think about what you could spend 20 minutes talking about right now with no prep or note cards. What are your values? What skills or passions are you most proud of? How do you want to make a difference in the world? What’s your why? Who are you other than just being an athlete? These are just some of the questions to ask yourself as you think about your brand.

The harder part is going deeper to discover how to convey your personal brand consistently and effectively so that it resonates with others. For your brand to resonate with others, people have to easily perceive the value that you can offer them.

First, you must understand exactly what a personal brand is. The differences may be subtle, but your personal brand isn’t simply your reputation. While your reputation is the opinions others have of you based on your actions and behaviors, your personal brand is more intentional than that. Your personal brand is how you connect with others emotionally and intellectually to allow them to see you the way you want to be seen. To make that connection, you must first align your intentions with your actions. Who you say you are is who you must show you are. Be authentic.  

Do an honest assessment of the person you currently are. Ask those who know you best and who you most trust to be honest with you (family, friends, coaches, teammates, etc.). Have them describe what makes you unique, and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Then, include those who might not know you as well, too. Once you’ve done all that, assess how these descriptions compare to the person you want to be. This allows you to have a better understanding of where you need to improve to have the image you want.

Second, you must demonstrate sincere interest in others, and understand what they care about and what their needs are. From there, you can demonstrate your value proposition by showing how your unique strengths can help and inspire them.

Your personal brand is the most important asset you own. When your playing days eventually end, your personal brand is all you have left.

Now, why is your personal brand so important? As a top athlete, you know there are tons of other really good players out there catching the eyes of colleges and recruiters, but you’ve learned how to differentiates yourself to show those coaches why they need you. It’s the same thing for NIL, and relationships in general. With NIL, you’re looking to convince brands why they should partner with you, and, with followers on why they should follow you. Plus, why your followers should want to tell others to follow you, too. Your personal brand will play the same critical role when you pivot into your post-athletic career and you have to connect with employers to show them why they should hire you. Or, just in general with the people you want to build relationships with and bring into your network.

Your Story

Your brand is only as strong as the story behind it, and vice versa. Your story is what brings your brand to life. It allows others to see and hear what makes you you. It’s the first step towards building meaningful relationships. People remember stories. They don’t remember facts.

A well-crafted story starts with authenticity. Being authentic allows you to resonate with others and establish trust, credibility, and dependability. When others see someone embrace their true selves, it encourages them to want to do the same. So, how do you come across as authentic? By showing the human side of your story, which is done through honesty and vulnerability. Nothing ruins authenticity quicker than acting like you’re perfect or like someone you’re not…people can immediately sniff that out and will choose to pay attention to someone else’s story instead of yours.

Authenticity, honesty, and vulnerability help elevate your story by allowing others to experience your journey with you. That means not being afraid to let people into your life. Be open in your interactions, engage and connect with others, talk about the highs and lows you’ve experienced. When you succeed, let others celebrate with you. But when you fail, don’t hide it. Embrace it, own up to it, and speak to it. Also, leverage social media to show behind the scene moments in your life to give people a peak behind the curtain of the real you. Your story should show people why they should care about your journey.

People remember stories. They don’t remember facts.

Learning how to build and grow your brand/story will open up new opportunities for you and allow you to form valuable relationships. Your personal brand will always be your advantage over the competition by allowing others to see the distinctive value that only you bring.

Once you demonstrate your value and build trust with others, you’ll soon have others promoting your story for you. People like to champion for those they know, like, and trust. Coaches will speak highly of you and advocate for you to other coaches and recruiters. Teachers and faculty will advocate for you to alumni and business leaders. And the list goes on. Having this support system will allow your story to continue reaching new audiences, and open up many exciting doors along your journey.